by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#5W78D)
Most comprehensive scientific analysis to date finds words are not matched by actionsAccusations of greenwashing against major oil companies that claim to be in transition to clean energy are well-founded, according to the most comprehensive study to date.The research, published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, examined the records of ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP, which together are responsible for more than 10% of global carbon emissions since 1965. The researchers analysed data over the 12 years up to 2020 and concluded the company claims do not align with their actions, which include increasing rather than decreasing exploration. Continue reading...
Campaigners say Tory MP for Wycombe is trying to ‘wreck’ government plans for environmentConstituents of Steve Baker MP who are concerned about his environmental position have set up a “Steve Baker Watch” group and are launching a crowdfunding page to raise money. The constituents in Baker’s constituency of Wycombe in the rolling Chiltern Hills believe that Baker is trying to “wreck the government plans to improve the environment”.Baker, who as chair of the European Research Group was instrumental in pressing for a hard Brexit, helped set up the Net Zero Scrutiny Group (NZSG), which has close links to the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a lobbyist group that has been accused of denying climate science. Continue reading...
Novel legal strategy argues that top schools including Princeton and Vanderbilt are legally obliged to put the public interest firstStudents at five leading universities have filed legal complaints accusing their colleges of breaking a little-known law by investing in the fossil fuel companies responsible for the climate emergency.The students from Yale, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and Vanderbilt wrote to the attorneys general of their respective states on Wednesday asking authorities to investigate breaches of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, which requires universities to invest in a manner consistent with their “charitable purposes”. Continue reading...
Seas rising faster around the US than global average will cause ‘dramatic increase’ in number of people vulnerable to floodingAmerica’s vast coastline is being assailed by rapidly encroaching oceans, with up to 1ft of sea level rise expected in the next 30 years – an increase that equals the total rise seen over the past century, a major US federal government report has found.The seas are rising significantly faster around the US than the global average, a situation that will cause a “dramatic increase” in the number of Americans, already numbering tens of millions, vulnerable to disastrous flooding, the analysis warns. Continue reading...
West Dorset MP Chris Loder caused outrage when he seemed to imply police should not prioritise eagle deathA Conservative MP who said eagles are not welcome in his constituency had his election campaign funded by a shooting estate, the Guardian can reveal.The West Dorset MP, Chris Loder, caused outrage when he seemed to imply police should not be prioritising the investigation of the recent death of an endangered white-tailed eagle, found dead on an estate in his constituency. Continue reading...
Human-caused climate change significant driver of destructive conditions as even drier decades lie ahead, researchers sayThe American west has spent the last two decades in what scientists are now saying is the most extreme megadrought in at least 1,200 years. In a new study, published on Monday, researchers also noted that human-caused climate change is a significant driver of the destructive conditions and offered a grim prognosis: even drier decades lie ahead.“Anyone who has been paying attention knows that the west has been dry for most of the last couple decades,” says Park Williams, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles and the study’s lead author. “We now know from these studies that is dry not only from the context of recent memory but in the context of the last millennium.” Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#5W5EH)
Revised government data estimates a lower proportion of pollution comes from wood stoves but they remain a ‘major contributor’Wood burning in homes produces more small particle pollution than all road traffic in the UK, according to revised government data.The new data significantly cuts the estimated proportion of small particle pollution that comes from wood burners from 38% to 17%. But wood burning pollution remains a “major contributor” to particle pollution, another government report said. Road transport is responsible for 13% of particle pollution. Continue reading...
by Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent on (#5W5EJ)
Warning from experts comes as government is under pressure to approve new works amid energy crisisNew oil and gas licences for the North Sea are incompatible with the UK’s international climate commitments and the Paris climate agreement, analysts have said.The government is considering licences for new oil and gas fields in the North Sea, under pressure from backbench MPs and media commentators, who claim new fossil fuel development is needed to reduce energy bills. Continue reading...
by Nina Lakhani Climate justice reporter on (#5W5AG)
A report, shared exclusively with the Guardian, provides a snapshot of industry’s involvement in some of the country’s most controversial fossil fuel investmentsAmerican private equity tycoons are profiteering from the global climate crisis by investing in fossil fuels that are driving greenhouse gas emissions, a new investigation reveals.Oil and gas pipelines, coal plants and offshore drilling sites linked to Indigenous land violations, toxic leaks and deadly air pollution are among the dirty energy projects financed by some of the country’s largest private equity firms, according to an investigation by the corporate accountability non-profits LittleSis and the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (Pesp).The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, owns dozens of oil and gas companies including a stake in NGP Energy Capital, which boasts its own major portfolio mostly focused on fracking and drilling in states like Texas, Wyoming and Colorado. Carlyle, which recently announced a target of net zero emissions by 2050, also partners with Hilcorp Energy – a major methane emitter with a track record of offshore spills in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico – on at least $4bn in equity and debt deals. (Methane is more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, and accounts for about a quarter of today’s global heating.)Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) has a controlling stake in the Coastal Gaslink pipeline in Canada, a 400-mile multibillion-dollar infrastructure project through unceded Indigenous territories that will transport fracked gas to a Pacific coast port for export to Asia. Police have deployed to evict protests and blockades organised by the hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation. Co-founder Henry Kravis is a major Republican donor, donating $1m to Trump’s 2017 inauguration fund. Continue reading...
No such thing as time | Cushioning the blow | Out for the count | Reclaiming San Serriffe | Marine disasterPeople seem to be getting excited, again, about nuclear fusion (The power of stars to meet our energy needs? This is something to be excited about, 13 February). Given that for the past 60 years, fusion has always been 20 years in the future, is this an experiment to prove that time doesn’t exist in modern physics?
Social impact of Italy’s 50% energy price rise is evident in city where 27.6% of the population is over 65Florence residents are being asked to pay the utility bills of elderly people living alone and struggling to make ends meet as the city’s leaders seek to shield the most vulnerable from soaring energy costs.The “adopt a bill” initiative begins in the next few days and comes as the social implications of a more than 50% hike in gas and electricity bills in Italy this winter start to manifest. Continue reading...
Dramatic spread of native plants over past decade is evidence of accelerating shifts in fragile polar ecosystem, study findsAntarctica’s two native flowering plants are spreading rapidly as temperatures warm, according to the first study to show changes in fragile polar ecosystems have accelerated in the past decade.The increase in plants since 2009 has been greater than the previous 50 years combined, coinciding with rapidly rising air temperatures and a reduction in the number of fur seals, according to researchers working on Signy Island in the South Orkney Islands. Continue reading...
Just Stop Oil campaign to target petrol stations, fuel depots and refineries to demand end to fossil fuel investmentActivists fronting a new campaign masterminded by Roger Hallam, the strategist behind Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, have said they are now preparing to move beyond protest and “into civil resistance”.Two young supporters of Just Stop Oil went to Downing Street on Monday morning, where they delivered an ultimatum to ministers calling for an immediate end to new fossil fuel investments. Continue reading...
by Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent on (#5W4C9)
Climate experts fear attacks falsely linking net zero to energy price rises are undermining UK emissions targetsSenior figures in climate diplomacy, including the key architect of the Paris climate agreement, have urged the UK government to maintain its commitments to climate action, amid escalating attacks intended to generate a “culture war” on the net zero target.Laurence Tubiana, the French diplomat who crafted the 2015 Paris agreement, now chief executive of the European Climate Foundation, said: “We are not happy, and we are crossing our fingers [that the UK will reaffirm its net zero commitment]. It’s very important that the UK keeps this direction of travel.” Continue reading...
by Kalpana Sunder. Photographs by Sarang Naik on (#5W421)
A group of sea life enthusiasts is documenting a wealth of species thriving in the shadow of India’s most populous city, from glowing coral to octopusesA hidden forest of algae sponges and hydroids photographed at low tide; a stunning night image of green button polyps under ultraviolet light; and a beautiful shot of a honeycomb moray eel stuck on a ledge on a rocky shore. Mumbai may be a bustling metropolis, but photographer Sarang Naik’s aesthetic and vibrant images of marine life show a different side of the city.When Naik first started exploring the coast of urban Mumbai, India’s financial capital and home to Bollywood stars, he was astounded by the diversity of creatures that he came across – from hermit crabs, barnacles and a baby octopus to zoanthids (colourful disc-shaped relatives of coral) and prickly sea urchins. The intertidal zone or foreshore – where the land is exposed at low tide and is under water at high tide – is home to diverse marine life over different terrains, from mudflats to beaches and mangroves.Clockwise from top: a honeycomb moray eel stranded at low tide at Breach Candy; a nudibranch sea slug on coralline algae; zoanthids glowing in UV Light at Malabar Hill rocky shore; squid babies inside an egg mass; an Elysia sea slug feeding on algae in a tide pool Continue reading...
Warmer weather due to climate crisis puts animals such as guinea pigs, cats and rabbits in dangerDogs are not the only pets vulnerable to heatstroke, and experts are saying that people should be aware of the risk to smaller animals such as guinea pigs and rabbits, especially as global temperatures rise.A study suggests that as well as man’s best friend, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and ferrets are also being taken to vets with the condition. Continue reading...
Investments to drill new oil wells and tap gas reserves were made within a year of signing upEurope’s biggest banks led by HSBC, Barclays and BNP Paribas have provided £24bn to oil and gas companies that are expanding production less than a year since pledging to target net zero carbon emissions, data shows.Investments to drill new oil wells and tap fresh gas reserves, backed by funds from major banks, appear to contradict commitments to international agreements and undermine efforts to accelerate the switch to renewable energy sources, the report said. Continue reading...
Female was receiving intensive care for multiple health issues but died early Friday morning, and a male beluga died in AugustThe second of five whales brought from Canada to Connecticut’s Mystic aquarium last year for research purposes has died.The aquarium announced on its website that the female had been receiving intensive care for the past several months for multiple health issues but died early Friday morning. A necropsy was to be performed to determine the cause of death. Continue reading...
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said move was part of efforts to recalibrate the oil-led economySaudi Arabia has transferred shares worth $80bn to its sovereign wealth fund as the oil-rich nation hopes to rival Norway and Singapore’s state-managed funds and invest in green projects.Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, said 4% of shares in Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil exporter, would be transferred to the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund as part of efforts to recalibrate the oil-dominated economy. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Political correspondent on (#5W3DV)
Letter in favour of shale gas extraction is another indication of party battle over environmental issuesThe former Brexit minister David Frost has joined Conservative MPs in writing an open letter to Boris Johnson calling for a resumption of fracking in the UK, in another indication of the ongoing battle within the party over environmental issues.Lord Frost argued that extracting domestic shale gas would give the UK a “competitive and reliable source of energy”. But Zac Goldsmith, a key green voice in the government, said it would not reduce energy prices and would put ministers at “war with furious communities”. Continue reading...
Griffith Park’s famous feline – who evades sightings better than any movie star – has inspired murals, songs and even an exhibit on his lifeThe mountain lion known as P22 has become something of a celebrity in the city of Los Angeles. The big cat resides in Griffith Park, a 4,000-acre park tucked in the Hollywood hills, and has inspired murals, songs and even an exhibit about his life.This February marks 10 years since scientists first found P22 while setting up camera traps in the area. His discovery was considered jaw-dropping, and scientists say that P22 has come to symbolize something uniquely LA, a city where wild landscapes rub shoulders with dense urbanism. Continue reading...
Satnav keeps cows safe without the need for fences and lets woodland thriveEpping Forest has swaths of designated land that is home to adders, grass snakes and common lizards, as well as white admiral and purple hairstreak butterflies, and mammals such as shrews and voles that, in turn, provide food for birds of prey and owls.However, life for the forest’s bovine residents has not been so easy. Forest staff have long battled to prevent the cattle from roaming across nearby roads and dual carriageways. Continue reading...
Anomalies are a sign that global heating is changing behaviour of flora and faunaA blackbird feeding a fledged youngster in early January. Red campions flowering four months early. And the earliest recorded sighting of a rare beetle.Wildlife experts and gardeners are reporting a series of highly unusual early sightings of flora, fauna, insects and birds across Britain, some of them weeks before when they would normally appear, in a further sign that rising global temperatures are having a significant impact on British wildlife. Continue reading...
West Sussex does not have infrastructure to cope with more development, say residents, who fear disaster for protected sitesAround the Tory heartland of Chichester, the government’s promise to build 300,000 homes a year has prompted loyal followers to take to the streets in protest.At first glance it might look like nimbyism, but dig deeper and the uprising exposes a problem that touches on England’s national infrastructure, the climate crisis and an ongoing environmental scandal. Continue reading...
The rare marine mammal is facing an existential threat from fishing nets. Scientists hope they can be saved, but time is running outThe vaquita, the world’s tiniest marine mammal, has long teetered on the brink of extinction. The population of porpoises marked with black ringed eyes and smiling, upturned mouths has dwindled by a devastating 99% over the last decade.Now scientists say their future is more precarious than ever, after a recent survey found less than 10 individuals left in the waters of their limited home range between Baja California and Mexico. Continue reading...
There’s a growing trend of climate litigation around the world. Here’s a look at the Australian cases likely to make headlines this yearIn March 2021, a 16-year-old student and an octogenarian nun walked into the federal court in Melbourne for the hearing of a defining case in Australian climate litigation.The lawsuit brought by Anj Sharma, along with seven other teenagers, and Sister Brigid Arthur, is part of a growing trend among climate activists and environment organisations raising climate issues in the courtroom, amid a lack of action by the federal government. Continue reading...
Envoys at Brest summit sign up to measures to tackle fight against illegal fishing and cut pollutionRepresentatives from more than 100 countries have committed to measures aimed at preserving the ocean from human harm, including stepping up the fight against illegal fishing, cutting plastic pollution and better protecting international waters.The French president, Emmanuel Macron, hosting the high-level session of the One Ocean summit on Friday, said 2022 was “a decisive year, and we should take here, in Brest, clear and firm commitments.” Continue reading...
Government reapproves project, which could power 4m homes, after it was stalled by local concernsA vast windfarm off the Norfolk coast has been approved by ministers for a second time after a local man convinced a high court judge to overturn the first decision a year ago.The high court verdict last February forced the government to reconsider the plans by the Swedish renewables firm Vattenfall to build two offshore windfarms capable of generating enough green electricity to power the equivalent of 4m UK homes. Continue reading...
by Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent on (#5W1TE)
Analysis: Little of record profits going to UK taxpayers as fossil firms claim cash is needed for move to low carbonThe chief financial officer of the oil and gas company BP, Murray Auchincloss, told investors this week: “It’s possible that we’re getting more cash than we know what to do with.”Oil and gas companies have reported bumper profits, as the gas crisis raises the price at which they can sell their fossil fuels, without raising the cost of their extraction. Continue reading...
White Turf race in St Moritz at risk because water in frozen lake is meltingEach February the rich and famous descend upon St Moritz, not just for the slopes and après-ski but for one of the world’s most exclusive horse races, held on ice.Though the luxury resort has a nearby airport mainly catering to private jets, and visitors can be seen being ferried around in helicopters and Ferraris, moneyed guests are beginning to think about the climate emergency. Continue reading...
‘Invasivorism’ is a growing ethical dining trend but is ‘eat them to beat them’ really the answer?From oral contraceptives to proposals to edit their DNA, efforts to control the UK’s invasive grey squirrel population have become increasingly elaborate. But a growing number of chefs and conservationists have a far simpler idea, which they see as part of the trend in ethical dining: eat them.“My original starting point with grey squirrel was taste. But it’s also great for the environment,” says Paul Wedgwood, one of Scotland’s leading chefs, whose restaurant on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile has had grey squirrel on the menu since 2008. Wedgwood has even made haggis from the North American rodent that has driven the local extinction of the native red across much of England and Wales. Continue reading...
Contamination at a small farm discovered after sewage sludge was tested for PFAS, but officials downplayed incident as ‘isolated’Cattle from a small south-east Michigan farm that sold beef to schools and at farmers’ markets in the state have been found to contain dangerous levels of PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals” that can pose a serious risk to human health.The news comes after consumer groups in 2019 warned that using PFAS-laden sewage sludge as fertilizer would contaminate dairy, beef, crops and other food products. However, at the time a Michigan agricultural regulator publicly assured the state’s dairy farmers her agency wouldn’t test milk for the toxic chemicals as they didn’t want to inflict economic pain on the $15bn industry, she said. Continue reading...
Beowulf Mining ‘hopeful’ for decision on mine in Sápmi despite opposition from activist, UN and Swedish churchA British company has fallen foul of Greta Thunberg, Unesco, Sweden’s national church, and the indigenous people in the north of the country over plans for an open-pit mine on historical Sami reindeer-herding lands.The clamour of opposition was voiced as Beowulf Mining, headquartered in the City of London, suggested it was “hopeful” of a decision within weeks of a 5 sq mile iron-ore mine in an area where Sami communities have lived for thousands of years. Continue reading...
Residents have been protesting National Grid’s pipeline, which bypasses wealthier, whiter Brooklyn areas, since 2020At first glance, the construction along the Brooklyn streets appeared routine. “You wouldn’t think anything of it,” said Fabian Rogers, a community organizer in Brownsville, a majority Black neighborhood where construction began in 2017.It wasn’t until years later, in 2020, that he learned that the overturned streets were making way for a fracked gas pipeline. “It just felt like a big slap in the face – to have [a pipeline] in my backyard that I didn’t know about,” he said. Continue reading...
Chairs of eight all-party parliamentary groups pledge to support the UK’s green agendaMPs not fully behind net zero are “a small minority” and the government should stay committed to its goal, a cross-party group of parliamentarians has said.Chairs of eight all-party parliamentary groups, including on climate change, net zero, clean air and fuel poverty, have written a letter to the Guardian , vowing they will “continue to support and promote ambitious environmental leadership in parliament”. Continue reading...
Electric vehicle stations to be placed every 50 miles along interstate highways to spur adoption of zero-emission carsThe Biden administration has unveiled a plan to award nearly $5bn over five years to build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations.The nationwide network of electric vehicle charging stations would place new or upgraded ones every 50 miles (80km) along interstate highways as part of the administration’s plan to spur widespread adoption of zero-emission cars. Continue reading...
California ruling does not affect wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho, Montana and WyomingFederal protections for gray wolves were restored across much of the US on Thursday, after their removal in the waning days of the Trump administration exposed the predators to hunting that critics said would undermine their rebound from widespread extermination early last century.US district judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, California, said the US Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to show wolf populations could be sustained in the midwest and portions of the west without protection under the Endangered Species Act. Continue reading...
Labour’s Ed Miliband is right to call for a one-off increase in corporation tax on North Sea producers to fund lower bills for consumersWindfall taxes are nothing new. Margaret Thatcher’s government was one of the most notable users of the tactic – with one-off levies on banks and oil companies for making excess gains in the early 1980s. Perhaps the fact that such duties find favour with the public surprises some who think economic populism is passé. But with gas prices trebling and the bosses of fossil fuel companies proclaiming “cash machine” profits, surely Labour’s Ed Miliband is right to call for a one-off increase in corporation tax on North Sea producers to fund lower bills for consumers.Big oil’s claim that it is paying its fair share to the Treasury is not credible, given that handouts from the state have often actually exceeded the tax take that the industry generates. Between 2018 and 2020, Shell and BP, which together produce more than 1.7bn tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, paid no corporation tax or production levies on North Sea oil operations and claimed tax reliefs of nearly £400m. Continue reading...
French president says ‘renaissance’ of atomic energy industry will help end country’s reliance on fossil fuelsEmmanuel Macron has announced a “renaissance” for the French nuclear industry with a vast programme to build as many as 14 new reactors, arguing that it would help end the country’s reliance on fossil fuels and make France carbon neutral by 2050.“What our country needs ... is the rebirth of France’s nuclear industry,” Macron said in a speech in the eastern industrial town of Belfort, in which he lauded the country’s technological prowess. Continue reading...
Dorset police appeal for information after white-tailed eagles found dead in south of EnglandTwo of the white-tailed eagles reintroduced to the Isle of Wight have been found dead, police have said.About 25 of the birds of prey, which have a 2.4 metre (8ft) wingspan, have been released in the area since 2019 as part of an effort to bring back a long-lost species to UK skies. Continue reading...
Environment | The Guardian